Loose Parts: Open Ended Materials
“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.”
Loose parts offer children infinite play opportunities influencing them in everchanging ways. The immense benefits of offering loose parts exploration is critical to development of the next generation. Loose parts allow children to do the thinking instead of the manufactured toy that has set directions. This is beneficial because it reaches such a deep cognitive level of thinking, problem solving, and persisting.
The seven types of loose parts are:
– Nature Based
– Wood Reuse
– Plastic
– Metal Ceramic/Glass
– Fabric/Ribbon
– Packaging
We believe this ties hand in hand with our teaching of sustainability and being environmentally conscious of the choices we make.
We use worm farms and/or composting bins to reduce food waste within our centers. We encourage children to place food scraps into separate containers for use in a worm farm and composting bins.